Wheel-rim



-c F. CHRISTOPHER.

WHEEL RIM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 12! l9l9.

' Pafnd July 13, 19520.

l l f 4.

a www CALVIN F. CHRSTOPHER, OF ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

WHEEL-RDW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 19229..

Application tiled July 12, 1919. Serial No. 310,353.

fo all whom it may concern;

. Be it known that l, Cnnvrn ll. (l1-nns- Tornun, a citizen ot the United lStates, residing at llisheville7 in the county of Buncombe and State ot North Carolina, have inventedl a new and useful 1VVheel-lim, of which the Jfollowing is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a demountable rimior a vehicle wheel, and one object of the invention is to provide a rim which may be folded readily into small compass, so as to facilitate the removal or" the rim from a tire, after the tire and the rim have been slipped laterally ott the wheelbody.

Another obj ect of lthe invention is to provide novel means for reinforcing andsustaining the demountable rim adjacent to the hinges which unite the parts of the rim.

Another object of the invention is to improve the latch mechanism which holds the relatively free ends of the rim together.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the invention appertains.

vWith the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention residesin the combination and arrangement ot parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what-is claimed, changes inends of the rim; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but disclosing a modified latch mechanism; Figy is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a section taken' approximately on the line 6*-6 of Fig. 4.

teferring to the invention as disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 1 denotes a wheel body provided at one side with the usual stop tlange 2. In carrying out the invention, there is provided a demountable rim including parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 adapted to cooperate -with a tire 7 of any desired sort.`

The parts 3-4, 4 6 and 3-5 of the de? mountable rim are unitedA by hinges 8. The free end of the part 5 of the demountable rim is denoted by the numeral 9, the numeral 10 marking the corresponding free end of the part 6 of the rim. rhe parts of the rim carry lugs 11 located closely adjacent to the hinges 8. There are lugs 12 on the relatively movable ends 9 and 10 of the respective parts 5 and 6 of the rim. The end 10 of the rim is provided with a keeper 14 having an odset extremity 15. A lever latch 16 is provided, the saine being equipped at one end with a projection 17 whereby the latch may 'be manipulated readily, the latch being mounted intermediate its ends on a pivot element 18 carried by the end 9 ot' the rim. The lever latch 1G includes an enlarged head 19 adapted to engage beneath the offset end 15 of the keeper 14, the head 19 being supplied with a stop projection 29 which, co-

operating with the edge of the part 15 of the keeper 14, limits the swinging movement of the lever latch, when the same is moved into locked position, from the dotted line showing of Fig. 3 to the solid liney showing of that igure.

lt will be obvious that when the latch 1G. is disengaged from-the end 15 ot the keeper 14, the parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the demountable rim may be folded inwardly on the hinges 8, it being possible, thus, to separate the demountable rim from the tire 7, and it being unnecessary to pry the tire loose from the rim, by means of a screw driver orl a like tool, in accordance with the known and 'established practice. The rim, therefore, may be deta'ched readily from the tire without inflicting injury either to the tire or to the inner tube. The lugs 11, coperating with the wheel body 1, support the ends of the parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 adjacent to the hinges 8, and take practically all of the strain oit' the hinges, so far as leXure toward the axis of rotation ot' the wheel is concerned. rllhe lugs 12 exercise a like office with respect to the relatively movable ends 9 and 10 of the rim. Since the lever latch 1G is supplied with the stop projection 20, it is unnecessary to provide the lever latch and the end 9 of the rim with interengagingelements, for the purpose of holding the lever latch in the position shown in solid line in Fig. 3. The lever latch merely is swung 26 extending radially of the wheel body andl vcoperating with one side flange 'of the on the pivot 18 until the stop projection 2O engages the end of the Keeper l/.

ln the form shown in Figs` l, and 6,

part of the 'parts hereinbeore described have been designated by numerals previously used, `vith the suffix .a". The lnumeral 2l denotes an" actuating strip mounted on the end- Sla to slide transversely thereof, the

striphaving longitudinal slots 22 receiving retainers or guides 23 engaged with the end 9, the retainers having heads 2li, and the slots 22 being countersunk, as shown at 25, to receive the heads. The strip 2l, obviously, is mounted on the end 9a for right line sliding movement. 2l is supplied on one end Witha projection demoimtable rim.A When the strip 2l is thir'ust inwardly, one end of the strip abutsagainst the stop 'flange' 2a of the Wheel. body vl@ and the projection' 26 is spaced, as shovvn at 27, from the adjacentedge of the rim.

The actuating strip 2l is provided, .near

' to the project-ion 2G, with a boss 28 extended laterally with respect to the median plane of the Wheel. i rack 29 is :'r'ormed on one edge of the strip 2l and meshes into an 1n terrupted pinion having a beveled edge 131, a portion of the said beveled edge being straight, or nearly so, as shown at The pinion 30 is journaled at 50 on the end 9a of the demount-able rim. The beveled edge 31 of the pinion 30 cooperates with the beveled edge 33 of a keeper 3l secured to the end 9 of the demountable rim.

The actuating strip 2l may be driven inwardly by hammer blows applied to the boss 28 and in this connection it is to be The actuating strip maaien observed that the boss projects outwardly .from the part 26, so that the part 26 canbe pried outwardly, the raclr 29 coperating.v with the pinion 30 and rotating the pinionv until the approximately straight part 32 of 'the edge of the pinion is parallel to the end of the keeper 34E. The pinion thus is disengaged from the keeper and the ends 9 and 9a oit the rim may be swung inwardly toward the center of the wheel body l.

- Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is A demountable rim having relatively movable ends; a keeper on one of said ends;

an interrupted pinion journaled on the other of said ends and cooperating with the keeper; and an actuating member mounted to slide on the last specified end of the rim, the actuating member having a rack meshing into the pinionn v ln testimony that l claim the lforegoing as my own, l have hereto atlixed my signature inthe presence of two witnesses.

CALVIN F. CHRISTOPHER,

Vitnesses S. D.v HALL, R. A. CARRIER. 

